Icing on the Cake
by transmutejun
Summary: What will Jun do with Granny Nambu's infamous fruitcake recipe? Written for the Birdscramble 100th Issue Recipe Challenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Icing on the Cake**

_This fic is related to my Stealing Christmas Series (The Bird Who Stole Christmas, and The Mecha That Stole Christmas), since it makes use of my original Granny Nambu character. However it is not a Christmas story, and you should be able to read it even if you haven't read my other two Granny Nambu fics. Enjoy!_

Chapter 1

Jun sat on a hard plastic chair, nervously wringing her hands. The waiting room was antiseptic and plain. Even the bright fluorescent lights only added a harsh glare to the scene.

A noise startled her, and her head jerked up to see Dr. Nambu approaching her.

"Now?" she asked, her throat feeling dry.

"Now." the Doctor confirmed. Jun pulled herself up and out of her chair. Her knees shook as she walked across the room. All she could do was hope that her foster father didn't notice.

Jun moved unsteadily down the hallway and over to the door of the small room that was her destination. Her palms were sweating, and she had to grip the doorknob tightly as she turned it. Gingerly, she stepped into the darkened room.

"Come here, Jun."

The creaky voice came from the large hospital bed in the corner, and Jun closed the door gently behind her before moving closer. Slowly, she sat down in a chair placed next to the bed.

"Hello, Granny."

"I'm so glad you came, Junie." Granny Nambu said. Her voice lacked the life and curiosity it usually contained: a pale imitation of its normal self. She sounded very sad and tired, and it was this, more than anything else, that brought home to Jun the seriousness of Granny's illness.

Granny Nambu's hand reached out, and Jun placed her fingers on the weathered palm. But the old woman brushed the girl's tentative touch aside. Instead, Granny fumbled with something on her night table, before managing to grasp it. Slowly, she passed the small object over toward Jun, and deposited it reverently into the girl's hand.

Jun looked down. She was holding a crumpled piece of paper. It was yellowed with age, deep creases clearly showing where it had been folded and unfolded many times over the years.

"Go on." Granny urged, her body frail, but her voice full of command. "Open it."

Carefully, Jun unfolded the paper, laying it on Granny's bed and smoothing it gently on the blanket. There was writing on the paper. One word leapt out and caught Jun's eye.

_Fruitcake_.

Jun's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Was this what she thought it was?

"It's my secret recipe for Christmas fruitcake." Granny confirmed Jun's worst fears. And then suddenly, Granny Nambu collapsed back onto her pillows, her body bereft of energy, as if the life had been drained out of her.

"But…" Jun desperately sought for something, _anything_ to say in response, "it's only April. Why are you giving a Christmas recipe to me now?"

"Don't beat around the bush, Junie." Granny whispered, her wrinkled eyes closed, their lids trembling. "I'm going into surgery tomorrow morning. I'm ninety-five years old. I know there's a good chance that I might not pull through this procedure."

"But Hakase has assembled the best team of doctors…" Jun protested.

"Doctors can only fight old age for so long." Granny said firmly. "I might recover, but I might not. This illness has reminded me that I won't live forever. There's no guarantee that I'll see next Christmas, or ever make my fruitcake again."

Jun shook her head, but found herself unable to refute the truth in Granny Nambu's words.

"As my only granddaughter, I want you to have my secret recipe." Granny confided. "One day, I hope you will pass it on to your daughter, or granddaughter."

Jun choked, overcome with mixed emotions. Part of her was troubled to hear Granny Nambu speak of her own death so casually. Yet at the same time, Jun was horrified at the notion that _she_ was expected to carry on the tradition of Granny Nambu's Christmas fruitcake. Granny's fruitcake was legendary… or more appropriately, infamous. This noxious concoction had been known to turn the Condor as green as a Galactor goon's uniform, cause the Owl to refuse dessert, burn the Swallow's skin, and induce hallucinations in the Eagle that were so vivid that they had nearly been life-threatening. On one memorable occasion, this toxic dessert had even given a Galactor mecha a fatal case of indigestion.

And Granny Nambu was passing down the dubious legacy of this recipe to _her_?

Granny patted Jun's hand soothingly, misinterpreting her granddaughter's reaction to this unexpected news.

"We all have to go sometime, dear." she said sanguinely.

Jun nodded her head silently, but felt guilty inside.

"Granny," she hesitantly confessed, "I'm not a very good cook."

"Nonsense!" Granny smiled. "You made that wonderful appetizer for our Christmas dinner last year. Or was it the year before? I can't recall… In any case, I'll bet you can make that fruitcake as well as I can. All of the instructions are written out right there."

Despite herself, Jun had to smile. She certainly couldn't do any worse than Granny at making fruitcake.

"To have you make this, and know that my dessert will be there next Christmas, even if I'm not, will be the icing on the cake." Granny sighed.

"Icing?" Jun's eyes began scanning over the yellowed paper in her hand. She had never been brave enough to actually eat Granny Nambu's Christmas fruitcake before, but she couldn't recall it having icing…

"It's an expression." Granny chuckled softly. "It will make me feel good to know that a part of me lives on. It will give me that much more joy."

"Oh." Jun replied, taken aback by the degree of emotion Granny had tied up in this fruitcake.

"Please, try the recipe." Granny urged, her weakened hands now fluttering at her throat. "It would ease my mind, knowing that my fruitcake will be passed on. Promise me, Jun."

Jun wanted desperately to refuse. She _had_ the refuse. There was no way she could honestly fulfill this request. But when she looked at Granny Nambu's frail body lying in the hospital bed, her tongue would not obey her mind.

"I promise."

88888

Jun opened the door to the Snack J. Her body sagged, her exhaustion as deep as if she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. But it wasn't the world she was carrying, only a recipe written in a spidery hand, on a piece of paper buried deep in her pocket.

Granny Nambu had been so desperate to pass on this piece of her family history, and yet as she had accepted it, Jun had also accepted a burden of guilt. She wasn't a cook. Oh, she had tried. She had even taken a cooking class more than a year ago, and had managed to produce some good results at the time. But when her Christmas turkey had suddenly turned into a Galactor mecha, Jun's confidence had been sorely shaken. It hadn't helped that her cooking teacher had run screaming off into the night, terrorized by his student's creation. Jun hadn't been able to make anything edible since that time.

By accepting this 'gift' from Granny, Jun was now obligated to put it to use. Certainly she could try, but her heart just wasn't in it. Sighing heavily, she sat down in an empty booth and pulled out the piece of paper, spreading it out on the table with her hands so she could read it. Her green eyes scanned the list of ingredients.

Allspice berries… what were those? Hard apple cider… did that mean frozen, or crystallized… or alcoholic? 4 cups of bourbon! What was this, a recipe for a drunkard? And at the bottom of the list, additional notes for black molasses, rum and… condensed tomato soup? No, that couldn't be right…

When she began reading the cooking instructions, Jun grew even more confused. Soaking candied fruit in spices and alcohol for days? Storing the fully baked concoction for a month, spritzing it daily with brandy? This wasn't a cake recipe, it was a time-consuming project that would take weeks!

Jun finally began to understand why Granny had always been so proud of the fruitcakes she had given to her family at Christmastime. The amount of effort involved in creating this dessert was phenomenal, and Granny had performed all of these tasks, every year, for the people she loved. The fact that Granny's fruitcake was the most toxic substance any of them had ever encountered was beside the point. It was a dish truly made with love.

Well, Jun had love. She loved her family more than anything else in the world. If she really put her effort into this, she could do it. And after all, whatever fruitcake she made couldn't be any worse than Granny's fruitcake.

Could it?

Jun stared grimly at the recipe, holding the paper tightly in her hand. She was determined to get this right.

The door to the Snack opened and Jinpei walked in, accompanied by Ryu. The pair approached the booth where Jun was sitting.

"What's up, Onechan?" Jinpei asked, moving closer.

"Nothing." Jun said, casually folding the recipe and moving to shove it into her pocket. But she wasn't fast enough.

"What's that, Junie?" Ryu asked, even as Jinpei's hand shot out to grab the yellowing paper.

"That's not yours!" Jun shouted. But it was too late. The Swallow already had the recipe in his hand. The boy danced around, laughing as he read snatches from the paper.

"Cinnamon… sugar… nutmeg…" he smirked. "Oh, Onechan, don't tell me that you're _actually_ thinking about cooking!"

"Come on, Jun knows better than that!" Ryu replied complacently. "She wouldn't ever try to cook again. Not after the disaster last time."

"It wasn't a total disaster!" Jun defended herself hotly.

"So, you'd call your dinner turning into a Galactor mecha only a _minor_ disaster?" Jinpei mocked. Jun stood up angrily, yanking the recipe from Jinpei's hand. The paper tore slightly, the sound seeming to echo through the empty bar.

"Look what you've done!" she cried, clutching the recipe to her chest.

"It's just as well." Jinpei laughed. "If you don't have all the instructions, it might turn out better."

"Aw, let her cook, Jinpei." Ryu smiled condescendingly. "Just as long as we don't have to eat it."

"Just get out!" Jun shouted, her arm outstretched as she pointed to the door.

"Whatever you say, Onechan!" Jinpei grinned widely as he ran to the door, Ryu close behind. The pair left the Snack, but Jinpei popped his head back inside for the last word.

"Just remember to clean the burn marks off the counter when you're done!" he needled.

Jun fumed, her empty hand clenching into a fist. It was just as well that Jinpei and Ryu were gone, as she was too angry to speak. She would show them! She couldn't cook, huh? Well she would make Granny Nambu's fruitcake recipe, better than it had ever been made before!

She wouldn't be cooking with love. She would be cooking with _revenge_.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Jun's slim form sliced cleanly through the cool, refreshing water of the Crescent Base lap pool. Her muscles ached, but the familiar movement of putting herself through the strokes relaxed her, helping her body forget the punishment it had just endured. She had been cramped for hours hiding in a small compartment inside of a Galactor base, before coming out at her appointed time and initiating a download of crucial tactical data. The others members of the Science Ninja Team, save Ryu, had endured this self-imposed incarceration with her, assisting her by clearing all opposition from her path, to ensure that her task could be performed quickly. The data stream had only been initialized at exactly 04:38 am, in the hopes that the base would be receiving its usual daily orders from Galactor Headquarters, as was usual at the time. Jun had located the orders, and transferred them to a storage disc from her belt pouch. It was hoped that the Team could pinpoint the source of the transmission, and therefore the location of Galactor Headquarters, from this information.

So now, all they had to do was wait for the data to be analyzed by the technicians at the ISO.

Of course, the tension was getting to all of them, but the members of the Science Ninja Team were doing their best to ignore it, acting as if there was nothing unusual going on.

Jun had been the doing laps for an hour, letting the water wash away as much of the stress as she could.

She let her mind wander, and for the first time in twenty-four hours, she thought about the fruitcake recipe she had received from Granny Nambu the previous week. She had spent a couple of days working on it, and she thought she had come up with the perfect combination of ingredients. She had placed the fruits of her labors into a tiny vial, and had been carrying it around ever since, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it.

And at that moment, her targets walked through the door.

As Jun continued her laps, Joe, Jinpei and Ryu entered into the pool area. Jinpei and Ryu were laughing and joking, while Joe seemed to separate himself from their high-energy mood. Jinpei ran toward the water, curling himself into a ball and hurtling his body into the pool.

"Cannonball!" the Swallow screamed, just before a cascade of water flooded over the area, drenching the Owl and the Condor, who were standing at the edge of the pool.

"Damn it, Jinpei!" Joe swore. "That's cold!"

"You were going to get wet anyway, weren't you, Joe?" Jinpei smirked, swimming toward the edge of the pool. It was clear that he was planning on performing the maneuver again.

Jun attempted to ignore Jinpei's antics and continue with her laps, but it wasn't relaxing now that the formerly calm water had turned into a sea of churning waves and froth that slapped her in the face every time she turned her head to breathe.

"I'm coming!" shouted Ryu, as he barreled down the diving board. The resulting splash was so vast that Jun thought it might empty the pool of water altogether. It was clear that her pleasant swim had come to an end.

Sighing, Jun got out of the pool, squeezing her hair into a long, thick rope to remove as much water as possible.

"Oh, hi, Junie!" Ryu said. "I didn't see you there. Don't you want to swim with us?"

"I'm done now, thanks." Jun smiled.

"Okay, maybe next time!" Jinpei laughed.

Jun shivered. As Joe had noted, the pool water was a bit on the cool side, and she felt it even more now that her wet skin was exposed to the open air. She moved over toward the hot tub, where Joe was already lounging. As Jun slipped into the bubbling water, Joe looked up, his eyes running appreciatively over her body for a moment, before he returned his gaze to the fish swimming past the window.

Jun's cheeks flushed. She had almost forgotten that she was only wearing a bikini. She knew that Joe didn't really mean anything by his actions, but it was nice to be noticed as a woman once in awhile. It was too bad that Ken never noticed her that way.

"Didn't want to deal with the splashfest?" Joe asked her, by way of greeting.

"It wasn't really what I was looking for." Jun admitted. "I just need to relax a bit."

"Yeah." he agreed.

There wasn't much to say after that. Jun closed her eyes and let the warmth of the swirling water soak into her muscles, and then into her bones. It was only when her body had that delicious feeling of limpness that she opened her eyes once more.

Joe was still staring out at the fish in the same tense manner that he had been when she had first entered the hot tub.

"What's wrong?"

His head turned sharply as she spoke, his eyes snapping.

"What do you mean?"

"I can tell there's something bothering you, Joe. It's more than just the possibility of finally locating Galactor's Headquarters, isn't it?"

The Condor grunted, turning back to look at the fish. Jun shrugged. When Joe was ready to talk, he would. It was almost impossible to pry something out of him if he didn't want to reveal his secrets.

"It's my shuriken."

"Your shuriken?"

This was the last thing Jun had expected. She stared at the side of Joe's head as he spoke to the window.

"The poison doesn't seem to be working as well as it used to." Joe turned to her, frowning. "During the mission today, I didn't miss a shot. But the goons weren't dropping as fast as they used to. Do you think Galactor has developed some kind of antidote?"

"It's possible." Jun said, her forehead furrowing slightly as she pondered the issue. "I've had to upgrade my yo-yo explosives twice since the Team was first called into active duty. We've had to add weapons to our G-Machines, and upgrade the Bird Missiles. Galactor keeps making new mecha and new bases and developing their technology faster than we can keep up with it. I wouldn't be surprised if the goons are being given vaccine antidotes against our shuriken poison. It sounds like something Galactor would do."

"Yeah, that's what I thought, too." Joe muttered, finally looking back at her again. "Damn Katse and his technology."

"I'm sure Dr. Nambu can come up with something else for you." Jun suggested.

"Hakase's so busy right now that I hate to ask him." Joe replied. "Finding Galactor's headquarters is far more important."

"The efficiency of your weapons is important too, Joe."

The Condor grunted again, turning back to stare at the fish once more.

Jun sighed softly, then pulled herself out of the hot tub. She padded on bare feet over to the women's locker room, opening the door and passing through it. Just as it closed, she caught a glimpse of Jinpei and Ryu, still horsing around in the pool.

This was the perfect opportunity!

The sudden inspiration made her smile. What better time to implement her revenge?

Quickly, she dried herself off, grabbed a small bottle from her belongings, and checked that no one else was in the locker room. After ensuring that the coast was clear, she lightly jumped up to the top of the lockers, pressing against the ceiling panels and crawling inside. Since the men's locker room was on the other side of the wall, it didn't take her long to reach it via her unorthodox route.

88888

Jun exited the women's locker room, stepping into the featureless metal corridor that would take her back to her living quarters on the Crescent Base. To her surprise, she found Joe standing in front of her, next to the entrance to the men's locker room.

"Jun?" he asked in mild surprise, quirking an eyebrow. "I thought you had left a while ago. What have you been doing in the locker room, all of this time?"

"Uh, you know…" Jun fluffed her blow-dried hair in what she hoped was a convincing manner. "Girl stuff."

"Uh huh." Joe turned away quickly, and Jun found it hard to suppress a soft giggle. Was it possible that she had made him blush?

"What are _you_ doing here, Joe?" Jun asked, to take the focus off of her own activities. It worked.

"I'm waiting for Jinpei and Ryu." Joe shrugged. "We're going to grab something to eat at the cafeteria. Want to join us?"

"Okay." Jun agreed, leaning on the wall beside Joe. She did her best to appear casual, but she could somehow feel Joe's scrutiny burning into her, despite the fact that his gaze seemed to always be engaged elsewhere.

After a few moments, Jinpei and Ryu emerged from the locker room.

"Ready to get some chow?" Ryu grinned.

"Yeah, I'm starving!" added Jinpei. "All of that swimming made me hungry!"

"It's not like you two did any actual swimming." Joe snorted. "You were just splashing around."

"Splashing around in the water counts as swimming." Ryu defended their action. "Right Jun?'

"Whatever you say, Ryu." Jun smiled, rolling her eyes slightly at Joe. The Condor didn't react.

"After all, we're practically professional athletes." Ryu bragged, stretching his arms out in an exaggerated manner to display his arm muscles. While the Owl definitely had a spare tire around his midsection, the bulk on his arms was obviously not fat. Jun laughed, whistling admiringly.

"Hey, idiot, did you know you've got a hole in your shirt?" Jinpei teased, poking his finger through the tear on Ryu's shoulder.

"Where?" Ryu asked, twisting this arm around in an attempt to see. This only caused the tear to widen, and within a few seconds his sleeve was almost completely separated from his number 5 shirt.

"Look, you're so fat that you're tearing up your shirt!" Jinpei was so amused that he fell to the ground, grabbing at his sides and rolling with laughter. But a sudden tearing sound caused the Swallow to sit bolt upright, an expression of shock on his face.

"What was that?" he asked, worried. He ran his hands nervously over his chest and shoulders.

"Look who's ripping up their clothes now!" snickered Ryu, even as he attempted vainly to reattach his sleeve to his shirt. Another ripping noise cut through the air, and the Owl's other sleeve detached.

"What's going on?" Jinpei wailed, a scared note to his voice as he grabbed at the number 4 emblazoned on his chest, only to have the entire front of his shirt fall off into his hand. "I'm falling apart!"

"You and me both!" exclaimed Ryu, bending over to examine his midsection. There was another loud tearing sound, and the back of the Owl's pants split completely open, revealing his undergarments.

"Ninja Turtles, Ryu?" Joe asked, a slightly surprised lilt to his slow drawl.

"What's it to you?" Ryu asked defensively, his face turning as red as Jun's number 3 shirt.

"Trust Ryu to wear Ninja Turtles!" mocked Jinpei, jumping up to get a look. Unfortunately for the Swallow, his pants chose that exact moment to tear almost completely in half.

"Yeah, Ninja Turtles are so much less mature than, say, Pokeman." Joe commented dryly, casting a pointed look at Jinpei's exposed rear.

"Uh, yeah…" Jinpei muttered, finally realizing the full extent of the predicament he was in. "I think I just need to run back to my quarters…"

"Me too!" gulped Ryu, as the pair went scurrying down the corridor, desperately attempting to hold the remnants of their clothing together.

Jun couldn't hold it in anymore. Her peals of laughter chased the Swallow and the Owl down the hallway, encouraging them to move as fast as possible from the scene. Her arms gripped her sides as she leaned against the wall for support, her amusement filling her up like a helium balloon and causing her to practically float off of the ground. She wiped at the tears streaming from her eyes, only to find herself staring into the Condor's curious face.

"That was certainly… unexpected." Joe noted, although his face held a questioning expression.

"Yes." Jun agreed rapidly, nodding giddily as she attempted to pull herself together. "Unexpected… but funny."

"I'll give you that." Joe replied. Was there a hint of amusement in his tone? Joe rarely laughed, and sometimes it was difficult to tell when he something tickled his funny bone.

"Still," Joe went on, his manner suddenly becoming more serious, "I'm sure whatever it was that they did, they deserved it." His eyes bored into Jun, and she lowered hers in response, her amusement suddenly gone.

"They did." she confirmed.

"Then I don't suppose Ken or Hakase need to know about this." Joe shrugged with an exaggerated casualness.

"Thanks, Joe." Jun whispered. Inwardly she sagged with relief. What had she been thinking? Of course Joe had figured out that she had had something to do with this! She had been stupid to try it when he was around. Of course, at the time, she hadn't known that he would be present to witness her revenge.

As the two ninjas walked down the corridor and toward the cafeteria, Jun began to relax. She replayed the entire scene in her head with glee. Granny's fruitcake recipe had certainly turned out well! Last Christmas, a small piece of it had been spat onto Jinpei's cheek, and it had burned his skin. Jun had actually seen a mark on the spot the following day. It had been this memory that had led her to experiment with Granny's recipe, and it had only taken her a day to concoct a form of acid from its ingredients… after tweaking a few, of course. A precise application to the threads stitching Ryu and Jinpei's clothing together had been all that was needed to set things in motion… and the results had been even better than she had hoped! Having Joe present to witness their humiliation had simply been icing on the cake.

Jun was beginning to see what Granny had meant about that.

If only Granny's fruitcake recipe could solve _all_ of her problems. At least Joe had been understanding about the entire matter. Jun wished that she could thank him in some way.

And then she realized that she could. Jun recalled the horrible indigestion Galactor's turkey mecha had suffered after eating a number of Granny's fruitcakes, over a year ago. There were clearly some toxic properties to the end product, particularly when it had been aged.

Perhaps she could kill two birds with one stone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Dr. Nambu has determined that this is the location from which Galactor is sending out orders to its various sub-bases." the Eagle told them. Of course, they all knew this. Everyone had been in the briefing less than an hour before, when Dr. Nambu had informed them of the results of the ISO's data analysis. Jun could see a bead of sweat sliding down Ken's cheek, underneath his visor. Gatchaman's repetition of the background information for this mission was meant to ease the tension in his nerves.

They were all feeling that tension. This could actually be it: Galactor Headquarters. It had been more than eighteen months since Dr. Nambu had ordered the Science Ninja Team to find and destroy Galactor Headquarters, and in all that time they had never come as close to their goal as they were right now. So Ken could be forgiven for stating the obvious.

"This may be Galactor Headquarters… but it just as easily may _not_." Ken reminded his Team. "We're going to get in, do our best to confirm this base's status, one way or the other, and get out, destroying the place behind us. Even if this isn't Headquarters, it's clearly an important base, and eliminating it will hurt, maybe even cripple, their organization."

Everyone stared grimly at their leader, focusing their minds on the task ahead.

"Let's move out!" the Eagle ordered.

"Roger!"

As they were rising on the elevation platform to the hull of the God Phoenix, Jun pulled something out of her wings, pressing the small bundle into Joe's gloved hand.

"Try these." she whispered quietly.

"What's this?" Joe asked, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw what she had handed him.

"Just don't go chewing on these ones, okay?" she winked.

And then they were leaping off of the God Phoenix and gliding down to the cold, mountainous landscape below them. Siberia was certainly a remote part of the world, and Jun could easily imagine Galactor Headquarters being located here, among the Ural Mountains.

It took less than a minute for the four of them (Ryu had remained, as usual, onboard the God Phoenix) to land on the ground and conceal themselves behind some large boulders. Another minute of searching the area revealed a hidden entrance behind some scrubby bushes, and then a moment later, thanks to the blowtorch attachment on Joe's gun, they were inside.

Once they had managed to infiltrate the base, Ken ordered Joe and Jinpei to head in one direction, then motioned for Jun to follow him in another. The two white-winged ninjas crept down a metallic corridor, staying out of sight and avoiding any confrontations. While they could easily take on any of the goons they saw in the area, they couldn't risk having them set off any alarms. The Science Ninja Team didn't want anyone to know that they were there.

At least, not yet.

They slipped into a nearby room to avoid a passing patrol, and Jun's eyes swept over the area as Ken kept a lookout. There was a computer terminal on a desk.

Eagerly, Jun sat down, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she sought the information that could either confirm or deny their suspicions. This base was quite large: much larger than anything they had encountered before, and even without a word passing between them, Jun knew that Ken's excitement was rising, as was her own. Everything fit. This had to be Galactor Headquarters!

It _had_ to be.

Jun called up a schematic of the base on the terminal, her eyes taking in everything she saw displayed there in the course of a few seconds. Yes, this place was large. It had massive living quarters, big enough to house entire families for soldiers stationed on the premises. Large, well-equipped laboratories made up the core of a huge research center. Massive hangars, arsenals, and supply depots gave testament to the ultimate purpose of this place. There was even a set of spacious personal apartments labeled with Berg Katse's name.

Jun gasped as a word caught her eye at the corner of a document.

_Headquarters_…

This was it! Her excitement crested and wordlessly she waved Ken over to see her evidence. She pointed breathlessly… and then her heart plummeted into the pit of her stomach. There was another word next to 'Headquarters'.

Emergency.

This was Galactor's _Emergency_ Headquarters: their backup in case the Primary Headquarters was ever discovered or destroyed. Jun hissed through her teeth in sharp disappointment even as she saw a flash of despair cross Ken's face, before he forcibly replaced it with one of stoic determination.

"It's okay." he reassured her. "It's almost as good. If we had found the real Headquarters, they would just have headed here after we destroyed it. If we can remove this place first, then they'll have nowhere to run when we find their _true_ Headquarters."

Jun nodded automatically, the taste of defeat bitter in her mouth. Ken was right, of course, but this still felt like a failure to her. She scanned all of the information she could access on the terminal, desperate to find anything that might salvage their mission, while Ken contacted Joe on his bracelet, relaying their discovery.

And then she found it: a communication with the Primary Headquarters! There was no obvious locator marker, but perhaps she could trace the message's routing path…

"Primary Headquarters is located within 5,000 kilometers of this place." Jun reported excitedly. "I think I can narrow it down, Ken!"

"Do it." the Eagle grunted sharply.

But it was too late. The sound of a piercing alarm rent the air, and green-uniformed goons poured into the room. A tall figure swathed in purple pushed his way to the front of the mass of troops.

"I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you here, Gatchaman," Berg Katse sneered, "but this certainly is a timely visit. I was just about ready to test Galactor's newest weapon on the world. Since you've shown up so unexpectedly, I guess I'll have to try it on you."

Jun's fingers flew across the computer's controls as she attempted to narrow down the location of Galactor's Primary Headquarters. She tweaked a few of the settings, then scanned the results, leaving any interaction with Berg Katse to Ken.

But she couldn't ignore the blue-green blast of fire that erupted from Berg Katse's hand and shot in her direction. She flew out of its path, leaping lightly into the air and turning head over heels as she spun from the danger. To her dismay, she saw the terminal disintegrate before her eyes.

"Your fancy fireworks don't impress us, Katse!" Ken spat. But Jun could tell that the Galactor Leader's arrival had come at the worst time for the Eagle. Ken had been counting on this being the location they sought. The tightness around his eyes and the firm set of his jaw told her louder than words that he was devastated by their failure. And now, Katse was kicking Gatchaman when he was down, launching this unanticipated attack.

"You can't escape my Acid Ray." Katse smirked, swinging his weapon around in a large arc as Ken and Jun gracefully flitted about. "And this is only the prototype! Imagine a weapon a hundred times this size, trained on Mantle Project facilities… or perhaps ISO Headquarters."

"Die, Katse!" Ken screamed, leaping from his perch near a corner of the ceiling and throwing out his boomerang at the Galactor Leader. Katse's hands jerked, and a spray of green fire erupted from his weapon, spraying liquid destruction onto anything it touched, whether it be metal or plastic, paper or cloth. The Eagle's boomerang met with the green flames, and to Gatchaman's horror the metal bird instantly dissolved, falling in a silvery rain to the floor where it quickly became a puddle of toxic goo.

Katse shouted triumphantly, renewing his onslaught. In his eagerness to score a hit on his greatest enemy, the Galactor Leader caught many of his own men in his attack. The green-uniformed soldiers collapsed to the ground, their flesh literally melting underneath the onslaught of the Acid Ray. But Berg Katse didn't care. His attention was entirely focused on Gatchaman, as the White Shadow flitted around the room.

Jun knew that their time was running out. Ken could only avoid Katse's weapon for so long. Right now, their only advantage was that no one was paying any attention to _her_. Katse was too focused on Ken, and his men were only interested in getting out of the path of the green fire that their Leader was so gratuitously spreading around the room. As she dodged the blasts of the Acid Ray, Jun thought fast.

The Swan threw out her yo-yo, attacking from behind and aiming for Katse's cloak in order to avoid the brunt of his weapon's attack. Just as it was reaching its target, Jun sent a charge down the wire. Goons who were also attempting to escape the green flames crowded behind the Galactor Leader's back, and it was this group of soldiers who got caught in the resulting explosion from the Swan's weapon.

Pieces of Galactor soldiers flew everywhere, even Katse's single-minded assault on his nemesis was momentarily interrupted by the chaos that resulted. Jun had never seen anything like it before. Her detonations had always done some damage, but this… this was more powerful than anything she had ever wielded on previous missions. She had tinkered with the explosives, but these results were far beyond her expectations.

Granny's fruitcake had come through for her again.

"Here!" Jun shouted, and Ken nodded, instantly understanding what she had in mind. As one, the pair of ninjas dove for the door, flying through the portal even as Berg Katse howled in outrage and frustration behind them.

Ken shouted into his bracelet as they raced down the corridor, warning Joe and Jinpei of this dangerous new weapon.

"It's time to evacuate anyhow." Joe's voice informed them. "Jinpei wired the base's main power core to explode."

"Rendezvous back at the God Phoenix!" Ken ordered. Jun didn't need the order. Her legs were already moving as fast as they could.

But not fast enough.

"You can't run from me, Gatchaman!" Katse's voice shouted from behind them. "This weapon is only a prototype! Once we deploy it on our new mecha, your Science Ninja Team will be unable to stop us!"

Jun looked around, searching for any place where she could find cover from the weapon's fury, but there was none. Her only alternative was to continue running, and so she did, Ken's white and blue legs flashing beside her.

Until they came to a dead end.

In their haste, they had taken a wrong turn. There was nowhere for them to escape, other than by moving past their pursuer. Jun glanced quickly at Ken, whose face bore a determined expression. He squared his shoulders, facing his enemy head on. Katse's teeth flashed from between his pink lips as he surveyed their position. The Galactor Leader raised his weapon, and Jun mentally braced herself for the blast of Katse's Acid Ray.

But it never came.

Instead, the floor rocked beneath their feet, nearly sending them tumbling to the ground. They recovered, but Berg Katse's swearing gave testament to the fact that the Galactor Leader hadn't been so lucky.

"What the hell is going on?" Katse ranted as he shakily pulled himself to his feet.

"Sire, the self-destruct has been activated!" a goon reported, checking a computer panel on the wall.

"What?" Katse screeched. "No! We can't lose this base! All of the data on the Acid Ray Weapon is stored here!"

But his men weren't listening. They were fleeing in droves, pushing past their Leader in a desperate attempt to escape. Ken and Jun took advantage of the momentary distraction, running ahead and leaping over the chaotic mass of troops, using their green-masked heads as stepping stones to make their way to the front of the pack.

"You won't get away this time, Gatchaman!" Katse ranted, but it was clear that the Galactor Leader's threat was a hollow one. The base continued to shake and tremble, causing everyone on the ground to loose their footing. The Eagle and the Swan landed on the floor, using their gymnastic skills to their advantage as they dashed to the exit.

They could hear the base exploding behind them, and then a fiery blast erupted from the wall to their right. Jun shied away from the flames and flying debris but continued on, covering her body with her wings and maintaining her rapid pace toward their goal.

And then they were outside, the freezing-cold air burning her lungs as she gulped for breath. A massive red and blue shape appeared in front of them, and Jun nearly cried with relief. She was less than a second behind Ken as he leapt into the air, landing on the elevation platform on the hull of the God Phoenix. As its clear dome closed around them, the warship began to turn, and less than ten seconds later the two ninjas were safe on the Bridge, a display of the exploding Galactor Base on a workstation beside them.

"We did it!" Jinpei cheered. "We destroyed the base!"

"But it wasn't Galactor's Primary Headquarters." Joe muttered angrily. "We're no better off than we were before."

"That's not true." Jun disagreed, repeating Ken's words from less than a half hour before. "We destroyed their Emergency Headquarters. If this had been their Primary Headquarters, then they would have just relocated to a different place. Now we know that when we _do_ find Primary Headquarters, they won't have a backup base."

"Small comfort that is." moaned Ryu.

"Jun's right." Ken said, although his tone was resigned. "We did accomplish something worthwhile. And we also destroyed Katse's latest weapon. Trust me, we wouldn't have wanted the God Phoenix to encounter that thing."

The Eagle moved forward to his seat, then contacted Dr. Nambu. He began to report the results of the mission to the Doctor.

"What did you put on those shuriken, Jun?" Joe asked, as he sat down at his workstation. "All I had to do was barely nick a goon, and he dropped! It got so I was purposely only scratching the Galactors, and felling multiple soldiers with each throw."

"I'm glad they worked out for you, Joe." Jun smiled. "I was hoping they would."

"Does Hakase know about this?" Joe asked.

"No, but I'll give him the formula." Jun promised. She smiled to herself. Their mission might have been a dubious victory, but her upgrades to her explosives and Joe's shuriken poison had clearly been successful. She had spent a couple of days experimenting with Granny Nambu's fruitcake recipe, attempting to isolate and refine the qualities that made it such an excellent poison.

During that time, she had also noted the fruitcake's explosive properties. Last Christmas, she had used her yo-yo to destroy a Frosty the Snowman mecha that had attacked the Science Ninja Team. Her attacks had been exponentially more devastating when she had detonated fruitcakes on the mecha's surface. Aided by this memory, she had begun working on enhanced explosives for her own weapon, even as she had developed an enhanced poison for the Condor's shuriken.

Jun grinned to herself, pleased with her accomplishments. If only she could explain to Granny Nambu what she had done! But Granny was still in critical condition at the hospital, and even if she were well, Jun couldn't risk exposing the Science Ninja Team's secrets to a civilian… not even Dr. Nambu's kindly old grandmother.

As Jun looked at the faces of her teammates, she saw them slowly relaxing. This mission hadn't been the ultimate victory that they'd been hoping for, but it certainly had been a step in the right direction.

Jun just hoped that the Science Ninja Team continued to move in that direction.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

That evening Jun sat in her empty bar, feeling less optimistic as her chances to earn a few dollars slipped away with the evening hours. Soon it would be time to close, and she'd have nothing to show for this night's work.

Was this what her life had come to? Going out on missions during the day and struggling to make ends meet at night? All of a sudden her existence seemed meaningless. Once Galactor had been defeated, what would she have left? Not Jinpei, who was spending more and more time with Ryu, and doing everything he could to get out of the Snack J. And despite her hopes, she was pretty sure that she wouldn't have Ken either.

Jun sighed, flipping over the sign on the front door to proclaim the bar closed for the night. She didn't want to think about this right now; it was too depressing. Ken wasn't going to make a move, and he probably never would. He wasn't interested in a relationship with her, or with anyone else. He was just too busy being Gatchaman.

To take her mind off of these gloomy thoughts, Jun pulled open a drawer at the counter, taking out Granny Nambu's fruitcake recipe. She read through it again, although by now she was quite familiar with its contents. As Jun thought about what she had already accomplished with the recipe, she had to smile. She had gotten her revenge on Jinpei and Ryu by developing a powerful acid. She had significantly increased the power of her explosives, and the strength of Joe's shuriken poison. She had passed on these three discoveries to Dr. Nambu, who had been surprised and impressed by her results.

Granny Nambu's fruitcake had actually made her life better. It was an astounding revelation.

If only this recipe could help her with Ken.

Jun froze for a moment, Granny's paper still clutched in her hands. How could she have forgotten?

Last Christmas, Ken had been forced into a situation where he had had to take a tiny bite of Granny's holiday fruitcake. Even that minuscule amount had been enough to send the Eagle into a hallucinogenic state. He had nearly been crushed by falling rubble when a Galactor mecha had exploded, but Jun had pulled him to safety. And then… Jun's cheeks burned with shame at the memory.

Jun had tricked Ken into kissing her.

In the moment, it had seemed like a golden opportunity to get Ken to realize that she was a woman: someone with whom he could explore a deeper relationship. But she had been wrong. Ken hadn't realized what he was doing, and afterward, when the others had teased him about it, he had acted like he didn't even remember. Perhaps he hadn't.

But… what if she could do it again? And this time, _she_ would control the recipe. Nothing too strong… she certainly wanted Ken to know what he was doing. But perhaps just enough to relax him a bit, and lower his inhibitions.

Immediately, Jun turned and ran into the kitchen. This wasn't going to be a wasted night after all.

88888

Jun didn't see much of anyone for the next twenty-four hours, as she worked on her latest project. Jinpei ran in and out of the Snack J, eager to grab some food and a quick shower, yet not interested in working at the bar. Jun let him go without protest. Her work on Granny's fruitcake recipe had become personal, and this latest undertaking was even more so.

Given her familiarity with the materials at hand, it didn't take Jun nearly as long to finish this compound as it had the others. Interestingly, it even had a delicious flavor: slightly nutty. She laughed to herself, realizing that while she wasn't apparently capable of cooking an entire meal for Ken, she could actually make something edible for him.

Her end result was a translucent, brown liquid, which could easily be added to a beverage. Now all she had to do was wait for Ken to come in to the Snack.

Fortune was with her. That evening, just as Jun was despairing of having any customers at all for the night, the front door opened.

Ken.

Jun smiled brightly, but the soft curve of her lips fell flat as she took in the expression on Ken's face.

"What's wrong, Ken?" she asked, concerned. The Eagle sank down onto a bar stool, his expression one of defeat.

"I just… I just wanted to sit here for awhile, if that's okay." he said quietly.

"Sure." Jun replied, but despite her response, her tone was uncertain. She eyed Ken critically. "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know." Ken waved his hand vaguely, as if to brush off her question. "Yesterday, maybe? Before we went to the Urals."

"That's not recently enough." Jun muttered, her hands on her hips. She gave Ken a stern look. "You sit right there."

Jun ran into the kitchen. Within moments, she was back with a sandwich and some fruit. She placed the food in front of Ken.

"It's not much, but I'm not really keeping a stocked kitchen these days." she apologized for the meager offering. "I don't have enough customers to support it."

Ken picked up the sandwich and placed it in his mouth. He chewed mechanically, as if he was unaware of his actions. As he ate, his head turned, and he looked around the empty bar.

"That's right…" he said, almost to himself. "You really should have more customers in here on a Friday night."

"Trust me, it isn't for lack of trying." Jun sighed. "But it's been really rainy lately, and no one wants to come out in this weather. And if they do, they want to go to a place that they _know_ is open. My hours are too sporadic. I should do better in the summer, when the students are out all night, partying at weird hours."

"So if you were open more regularly, you'd have more customers…" Ken said quietly. She could almost see his mind working as he spoke. "It's been too long for you, too…"

"I don't understand?"

"Sorry." Ken smiled, but it was a weak gesture, and didn't reach his eyes. "Just thinking out loud, I guess."

"Okay." Jun said, not really catching his meaning, but gathering that he wanted her to let it go. "Something to drink?"

"Something warm." Ken shivered. "It's so cold and rainy out there. It's hard to believe that it's nearly the end of April."

"Coming right up." Jun said, turning around and grabbing two coffee cups. She poured the steaming liquid into the cups, and set down the carafe. As she did, she caught sight of the small bottle that held the results of her latest experimentation with Granny's fruitcake.

This was it.

Her chance… she could relax Ken, and he would feel better. She'd make a move, and with lowered inhibitions, he'd be more receptive. Before she could lose her nerve, Jun poured a good dose of her compound into the coffee cup near her right hand.

She turned, moving her arm to give the coffee cup on the right to Ken, but the mere sight of him stopped her. His head was bowed, resting in his hands, and he was staring at the bar's surface without truly seeing it. His slumped posture radiated a sense of despair.

"Ken?" she asked softly, putting down the cups and placing her hand lightly on his arm. "Is there anything I can do?"

He raised his head slowly, his eyes meeting hers.

"You're already doing it, Jun."

"Oh…" Jun frowned, trying to puzzle out his meaning. She reached again for the coffee cups, and froze.

Was this _truly_ what she wanted? Did she want Ken to desire her this way? The thought was tempting, but there was a problem. Whatever happened as a result of Ken drinking this coffee wouldn't be _real_.

And if it wasn't real… it was no better than her fantasies.

Jun had always thought that her feelings for Ken were something special. Something pure. She had tarnished those feelings when she had taken advantage of him last Christmas. Her actions had occurred on the spur of the moment, when she had been on a high after nearly single-handedly destroying a Galactor mecha.

But she had no such excuse now. And Ken deserved better.

Silently, she gave Ken the coffee cup in her left hand, pouring the contents of the other one into the sink.

"Thanks." Ken said, raising the cup to his mouth, apparently unaware of what his beverage had nearly contained.

"No problem." Jun shrugged. "I'll just go clean up in the kitchen now." She turned away, tears in her eyes. She couldn't use her compound on Ken, but that only left her in the same state as before.

"Don't go." Ken said quietly.

"Huh?" Jun blinked, attempting to surreptitiously wipe her eyes with the back of her hand, and failing miserably.

"I'm sorry I'm such miserable company." Ken sighed, putting down his coffee cup. "I don't blame you for wanting to leave."

"I didn't want to leave." Jun admitted, surprised. "But I thought _you_ didn't want me around."

"I want you around."

Ken's eyes locked onto hers, their icy-blue color darkening as he stared at her. For a moment, she couldn't move, but then he tore his gaze away, looking down into his cup.

"I know I don't normally say things like that." he acknowledged. "It's just, these past few days… it's kind of been a breaking point, for me."

"I noticed that you were pretty stressed out yesterday." Jun said. "But then, we all were…"

"I had convinced myself that we had located Galactor Headquarters." Ken admitted, his shoulders sagging. "I was _desperate_ for it. I…" He looked up at her again, his expression haggard.

"I _need_ this war to end, Jun."

"We all need that." Jun replied. "We need a chance to heal, to rebuild; to live without the constant worry that Galactor could attack at any moment…"

"It's more than that." Ken told her. "I need to stop putting my life on hold. I need to grieve properly for my father. I need to fly for the joy in it, not during a training session or on a mission. I need to get to work again, and pay off the debts that are piling up on the airfield."

"I didn't know…" Jun's heart went out to him, and she squeezed his hand gently, offering what little comfort she could.

"You weren't _supposed_ to know." Ken sighed. "If you could figure it out, then it's possible Galactor could too. And if they knew how weak I was…"

"You're _not_ weak, Ken." Jun said confidently. "You're the strongest person I know."

"My weakness is that I want this war to be over." Ken disagreed. "Every time we defeat Galactor, Katse comes back with another mecha, another base, another weapon. I'm sick of it, Jun. I'm tired."

"We'll defeat Galactor." Jun said. Outwardly she was confident, but inside she had her own doubts. The Science Ninja Team had been fighting for almost two years. When they had begun, they had been confident that they would destroy Galactor within a few weeks.

How much longer was it going to take?

"We almost died yesterday, Jun." Ken reminded her, his hands gripping her fingers tightly. "If you hadn't caused that explosion…"

"But we made it out." Jun replied. "We've been in tough positions before. It's not like we haven't ever been in a situation where we might not return. But we always do."

"We've been lucky." Ken grimaced. "It can't last. Sooner or later, one of us is going to die, Jun. Maybe more than one of us." His eyes locked onto hers, and she knew that he was speaking the truth. There _had_ been too many close calls. They _had_ been lucky. And one day, they would be unlucky.

The war had to end before that happened.

"I'm the leader of the Science Ninja Team." Ken's face was tight. "If anyone is lost, it's on _my_ head. _I'm_ responsible. And while I'd be devastated if anyone on the Science Ninja Team fell, if it was _you_… I don't know if I'd ever recover from that."

Jun swallowed nervously, but found herself strangely unable to speak.

"I never had a chance to tell my father what I was feeling." Ken said. "I never got to tell him that I loved him. And if you died without…"

Jun stared at Ken, her heart pounding in her chest. The sound of it echoed inside of her, imprisoned by the absolute silence that surrounded the two ninjas.

"I'm not dead, Ken." she whispered. Slowly, he pulled his hand from hers, raising it to her face. His fingertips stretched out, brushing lightly across the pale skin of her cheek.

"And I plan on keeping you that way." he muttered, almost to himself. He drew his hand back reluctantly from Jun's face, then pulled himself away, sitting up straight and squaring his shoulders.

"We have to find Galactor Headquarters and destroy it." Ken was determined. "We need to make sure that they can never threaten the Earth again. And we have to do it before it's too late."

"We will." Jun nodded, her faith in him completely unshakeable. "Together."


	5. Epilogue

Epilogue

It had been just over a week since that rainy night at the Snack J when Ken had opened up to Jun. Since that time he had withdrawn from her, becoming even more distant, yet Jun was filled with hope. Ken's words that night had given her the strength she needed, along with the knowledge that the future wasn't as bleak as she had secretly feared. And the most wondrous aspect of Ken's revelations was that they had come from his own self, and had not been induced by her compound. She had made the right decision, but at the time, she hadn't understood how important that choice truly was.

Ken wasn't the only one who had pulled away and isolated himself. Joe was becoming more quiet and sullen. Since their destruction of Galactor's Emergency Headquarters, Joe had not sought out his teammates, and had isolated himself from them. He had been troubled during their last mission to recover Dr. Mekker, a scientist who had turned traitor to help Galactor. Joe had not shown up to an important rendezvous, and had lashed out at Dr. Nambu afterward. Ken had stated that he would find out what was wrong with Joe, but the entire affair bothered Jun. Joe had refused to talk to her, and she could only hope that Ken would succeed where she had failed.

Jinpei had grown more quiet and subdued of late, as the grim atmosphere that enveloped his teammates affected him as well. Even the usually good-natured Ryu was irritable and sullen. The Science Ninja Team had to defeat Galactor, and soon, before it fell apart of its own accord.

If anyone could lead them to victory, Ken could. Jun had faith in the White Shadow to hold them together until the end.

But today her thoughts were distracted from these troubles with a rare bit of good news. Jun walked through the sterile white corridors of Utoland City Hospital, but her heart lightened with each step she took.

At last she reached the room she sought. She knocked softly, and then entered. Granny Nambu was sitting up in bed, sipping a cup of tea.

"Junie! How wonderful to see you!" Granny grinned, her toothless mouth only emphasizing her giddiness. "If I'd known you were coming, I would have put in my dentures."

"Hakase told me that you had recovered from the surgery, and I wanted to come and visit." Jun replied. "I'm sorry I didn't call ahead."

"Nonsense!" Granny said. "I'm glad to see you. Are you here to tell me about the latest man in your life?"

"No." Jun smiled, her thoughts briefly flitting to Ken as she sat down next in a chair to Granny's bed. "I came to thank you for giving me your secret recipe."

"You tried it?" Granny's face lit up. "I'm so glad. How did it work out for you?"

"I'm not a very good cook," Jun admitted honestly, "so I couldn't follow your recipe exactly. But I made some alterations to it, and created a few new things that were just what I needed."

"That's wonderful, Junie!" Granny patted her hand. "Now you've made your mark on it. And don't you dare tell me what you've done. It will be _your_ secret, that you will only pass on to your daughter or granddaughter."

As Granny Nambu said those words, a feeling of certainty took hold of Jun. In that moment, she could almost see the future in front of her. She would have a daughter, and yes, grandchildren too. Everything would happen for her, if only she had the patience and determination to see it through.

Ken would lead her there. He would lead them all to that future.

Jun had been uncertain when Granny Nambu had given her the fruitcake recipe, but

in the end it had been more useful than she ever could have anticipated.

As long as she kept an open mind, the possibilities were endless.

Maybe she could have her cake, and eat it too, icing and all.


End file.
